Sporting shoes such as golf cleats and the like accumulate mud and other debris. Consequently, golfers often carry a shoe cleaning brush for the purpose of removing such debris from their cleats. It is desirable to mount a golf cleat cleaning brush onto a golf cart or the like; however, some problems are encountered with cart mounted brushes, since such brushes must project from the cart at a location readily accessible to the golfer and must do so with sufficient rigidity to permit the golfer to scrub dirt from his or her cleats. The rigid mounting and accessible location of prior art cleat cleaners can cause injury to a player who walks into a cleat cleaning brush, or is struck by a cleat cleaning brush on a passing golf cart. Similarly, impact with a golfer, a tree, or rough ground can damage the brush and/or cart. Consequently, it is desirable that any cart mounted cleat cleaning brush be deployable from a use position, in which it is accessible to the golfer, to a storage position in which it is safely removed from access.
A number of approaches have been implemented in the prior art mounting cleaning brushes onto support structures such as golf carts and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,917discloses a flexible, belt-like brush which is wrapped about, and affixed to the bumper of a golf cart. This brush is not foldable from a storage to a use position, and relies upon the bumper of the golf cart to provide rigidity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,075 discloses a self-storing brush configured to be mounted to the bumper of a golf cart. This brush is of different configuration from that of the present invention, but does provide for folding of the brush from a storage to a use position. Patent D381,138 discloses a brush which is configured to be mounted onto a vehicle. The brush is hinged to an attachment bracket and includes a spring which allows it to be folded. Patent D375,039 discloses a brush which is rigidly affixed to the frame of a golf cart, and does not include any provision for folding. U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,404 shows a cloth belt which is attached to a vehicle and which retains a folding shoe brush. U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,674 shows a hinged shoe brush assembly which attaches to a golf bag, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,138 shows a boot scraper that attaches to a ski pole.
As will be explained in detail hereinbelow, the present invention provides a brush assembly which is readily affixable to a golf cart or to a stationary support and which can be simply and easily folded from a storage to a use position. In the storage position, the brush assembly is relatively flat and includes no sharp projecting portions which could cause injury. In its use position, the brush is very rigid and will support a fairly large amount of weight, and will not be dislodged by vigorous use. The brush assembly of the present invention is easily mounted onto a variety of supports, and is simple to operate. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the drawings, discussion and description which follow.